Deaths jumped 8.9% in Japan in 2022 to almost double birth total

Record 1.58m people died, showing impact of aging population, COVID

Health care workers move a COVID patient at a hospital in Hokkaido: The pandemic, along with falling numbers of couples of childbearing age, accelerated Japan's population decline. © Kyodo

KENTARO IWAMOTO, Nikkei staff writer

February 28, 2023 14:52 JST

TOKYO -- Total deaths in Japan jumped nearly 9% in 2022 from the previous year, underscoring the severe impact of the aging population and the COVID pandemic.

A record 1,582,033 people, including foreigners living in Japan and Japanese citizens living abroad, died last year, according to preliminary data released by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare on Tuesday. The pace of the rise in deaths jumped from 4.9% in 2021 to 8.9%.